Miss Jackson
by Cassidy Alice
Summary: This all feels horribly cliche, but Annabeth finds she doesn't have it in her to really care.


_A/N: I... have no explantation for this. XD If it's weird or horribly written, you can blame the Legend of Korra for that because I wrote it to distract myself after an insanely emotional finale. Hopefully it's not too cliche or anything. ^^'_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing!_

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><p><strong>Miss Jackson<strong>

Annabeth turned the key in the lock and let herself into the Jackson-Blofis apartment, shrugging out of her pea coat and hanging it on the peg that had become reserved specifically for hers. Sighing in content at the warmth of the apartment, she unwound her scarf and paused for a moment, leaning against the door with a small smile on her face, before hurriedly dropping her schoolbag and wandering deeper into the apartment.

"I'm home," she called, peeking into the kitchen only to find Sally cooking by herself. A while ago, she'd have been extremely self-conscious about letting herself into Percy's apartment and just walking in as if she lived there, but lately, she's been spending so much time there, she might as well as have moved in. Sally and Paul had given her a spare key to let herself in whenever she liked and Annabeth soon became something of a permanent fixture in their house, at least until ten thirty, when she had to get back to her dorm before curfew. But, she'd become so comfortable with Percy's family and she spent so much time at Percy's house, that it no longer bothered her to treat Percy's family like her family because, in a way, they already were.

"Just me," Sally said, smiling apologetically at Annabeth. "Paul's on his way back from work and Percy's down in the mail room. He should be up soon."

Annabeth nodded, helping herself to one of Sally's cookies. She'd just finished her second one, when the front door opened, and Paul walked in followed by Percy.

"It's freezing outside," Paul commented, which was practically drowned out by Percy's cry of "Annabeth!"

Annabeth stifled a laugh as Percy tossed the mail aside and engulfed her in a tight hug.

"You're here!"

"I told you I was coming, didn't I?"

"Well yeah, but it's freezing cold and it looks like rain, so I didn't think you'd want to come."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but she only got a mouthful of fabric as Percy hugged her again.

"I'm glad you're here. Mom was complaining how dull it'd be if you didn't show up."

"That's because all Percy does is mope when you're not with him," Sally said, ruffling her son's hair.

"Mom!" Percy looked aghast, though whether in jest or in seriousness, no one could tell.

"That's so sweet," Annabeth teased. "You can't live without me."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy grumbled. "You try spending extended periods of time away from your incredibly hot boyfriend and see how you like it."

Annabeth just laughed.

"Dinner will be ready in a bit," Sally said. "You kids go do whatever it is you do in the meantime."

"Before you go," Paul interjected. "There's a package for you, Perce."

"For me? I thought it was for you." Percy said, taking the package from his stepfather. He read the sender's address and blinked. "It's from your parents."

"Probably a late birthday gift." Paul guessed.

"Paul's parents were in Europe for a couple of months," Percy explained, when his girlfriend look puzzled. "They probably just got back." He tore open the package and a thick square of fabric dropped to the floor. Annabeth picked it up and quirked a brow.

"A varsity jacket? Isn't that the kind of things mortal boys wear?"

Percy examined the jacket. It looked a little small but it was kind of cool seeing his last name across the back and a little symbol stitched on the arm that resembled one of those undersea Greek creatures whose names he'd long since forgotten.

"I think Mom, Paul and I agreed to tell them I was on the swim team to cover up all the demigod stuff. They must've really believed it."

"Well, try it on, Seaweed Brain."

Percy looked at the jacket and then chuckled, before tossing it to his girlfriend.

"Eh, not really my style, but you can keep it. That way, you won't have to keep stealing my stuff."

Annabeth blushed crimson. "I do not!" She protested.

"My empty closet says otherwise. I hardly have any clothes left."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain. I only borrowed your sweater."

"Yeah, all six of them and I'm still waiting for them back."

Annabeth didn't say anything as she tried on the jacket. The jacket was just a little too big on her since Percy was a couple inches taller, but Percy thought she looked adorable. She wore it well and if one didn't look closely at it, it might have seemed as if the jacket was really hers after all.

"This feels horribly cliché," Annabeth said, attempting to frown, but failing to do so. "I'd blend right in with half the girls in my school who wear their boyfriend's stuff."

"What's wrong with that?" Percy demanded.

"Nothing," she amended, hastily. "It's just…I don't know. I kind of liked keeping you hidden because if my mortal friends knew I had a boyfriend and saw you, I'd never get you back because they'd be all over you."

"I am attractive," Percy said, grinning. "You can't blame them."

Annabeth swatted at him. "I think you're full of yourself," she laughed, moving away when he tried to grab her. Unfortunately, she overestimated the amount of space behind her, because she took three steps back and fell backwards on the couch, grabbing at Percy to steady her fall. Her boyfriend, however, managed to catch himself before he fell on top of her and he loomed over her, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Whatever you're planning, don't you dare do it," Annabeth warned. "I'll…"

She was cut off (and saved from whatever Percy was planning) by Sally's call for dinner. Percy looked somewhat disappointed that he hadn't been able to enact his scheme, so he settled for kissing his girlfriend and then literally hauling her to the dinner table.

Dinner at Percy's place always made Annabeth feel glad she'd skipped out on evening meals at her boarding school. Sally's cooking was always delicious and Annabeth had so much fun, she never really felt guilty about leaving her few mortal friends to dine by themselves for one meal. But, as always was the case, time seemed to pass that much faster when she was having fun and ten thirty came much too soon for her liking. Her boarding school had a curfew of eleven, so Annabeth always made sure she was back in her dorm in time. She hadn't meant to take Percy's jacket with her, but it was pretty comfortable and she found she liked it a good deal more than she thought she would, so she took to wearing it more often. At first, she got a few curious glances, but no one pressed her on the owner of the jacket and she offered no explanations. But that, as she soon found out, posed a bit of a problem.

It happened one day a little over a week after Annabeth started wearing the jacket. She'd abandoned her school's library and had gone to a public library for additional resources for an assignment. As was almost always the case, she ended up staying later than planned and was soon the last person in the library, aside from the middle-aged librarian. She hadn't planned on staying until closing time, but the librarian roused her from her reading with a sharp jab on her shoulder and a loud "Miss Jackson!"

Annabeth flushed. She'd heard the librarian, but she hadn't thought the woman was addressing her.

"If you could please take your belongings with you," the librarian sighed. "I'd like to close up."

"Could I just check this book out?" Annabeth asked.

"Do you have a library card?"

"Um… no."

The librarian shuffled to her desk and began tapping away at the keys on her keyboard.

"Name?" She drawled.

"Annabeth."

There was some clicking sounds as the librarian entered it in, before she rearranged her glasses and sighed. There was more typing and more information requested, but five minutes later, Annabeth had the book she needed and a new library card.

"Um….don't you need my last name?" Annabeth wondered.

The librarian scowled before turning her computer screen so Annabeth could see. All her information had been filled out correctly, except for her name, which read Annabeth Jackson instead of Chase. Her gaping expression must've told the librarian something was wrong, because her scowl only got deeper.

"Something wrong?"

"My last name is Chase, not Jackson." She said, blushing.

"New library cards are five dollars," the librarian snapped, evidently displeased with being delayed. "You'll have to come back tomorrow for a new one. It's fifteen minutes past closing time and I have a forty minute commute back home and it's…"

"I understand," Annabeth said, hastily shoving her new card and borrowed book into her bag and making her way to the exit.

"Come again soon, Miss Jackson." The librarian said, not sounding particularly enthusiastic about her invitation and making no effort to call Annabeth by her real name. Annabeth just nodded and hurried back to her dorm.

A similar incident happened again, a couple of days later. Annabeth was ordering coffee from a local coffee shop that was quite crowded despite the hour. Naturally, the baristas were taking names with orders but Annabeth hadn't been asked for hers, so she assumed they'd remembered it from the day before. She was pleasantly surprised, however, when she got her order, and _Ms. Jackson_ was scribbled in sharpie across the cup and when the cashier offhandedly commented on how nice it must be to on the swim team. Annabeth didn't even have it in her to wipe the grin off her face as she took her beverage and headed back to her dorm.

Normally, this kind of thing might have bothered her. Annabeth hated it when people shortened her name to Annie or Beth or anything the like. Back at camp, when she'd been little, she swore she'd heard some of the older campers had jokingly called her Bananabeth when they thought she couldn't hear. But this was different. She didn't mind so much. After all, Annabeth Jackson had a pretty nice ring to it. So, for a while, she made no move to correct the bored librarian or the baristas at her new favorite coffee shop…at least, not until Percy found out.

She wasn't planning on hiding the truth from him, but it never came up in conversation and it was never really something she thought might be damaging or hurtful if she hid it, so Annabeth saw no need to tell Percy. But, he found out, one chilly autumn evening when she stopped by for dinner. She'd stopped at the coffee shop as usual and the girl in line in front of her had given her name as Anna. When Annabeth had given her name at the counter, the barista had smiled and scribbled _A. Jackson_ on the cup so the two orders wouldn't be confused and passed it off to a fellow employee. Annabeth thought nothing of it, until later that evening when she and Percy had finished watching a movie. She'd reached for the cup to finish the last of her drink and her boyfriend had caught sight of her name written across it and had plucked the cup from her hand to get a better look.

"A. Jackson?" He demanded, glancing at the styrofoam cup and then at his girlfriend who smiled sheepishly and twirled a piece of her hair around her fingers.

"I was going to tell you," she said nervously, avoiding meeting his gaze. She looked almost timid (and Annabeth Chase was anything but timid; Percy had seen her take down far too many monsters to believe that) and Percy was never accustomed to seeing Annabeth nervous around him. "It just never came up in a conversation and I wasn't sure how to tell you, and besides, it is sort of your fault since you let me keep your jacket and now…"

"Annabeth!" Percy silenced her with a kiss and she blinked. "I'm not mad. Just curious. Why…?"

Annabeth gave a small smile. "Your stupid jacket, Seaweed Brain. It's caused more problems than I can count."

"Seriously?" Percy looked genuinely apologetic.

"No," Annabeth laughed. "But there has been some confusion. The baristas at the coffee shop I go to think I'm on the swim team and I've got a new public library card registered under Annabeth Jackson thanks to a crabby librarian."

"Seriously?" Percy asked again.

Annabeth nodded.

"But why didn't you bother to correct them?" Percy wondered, gazing so intently at his girlfriend that Annabeth squirmed under his gaze.

"I tried with the librarian, but she didn't seem to care. And after the coffee shop incident…well, maybe I liked the sound of it a little too much to care that it was technically wrong."

Percy laughed and pulled Annabeth closer, kissing her firmly. "I knew there was a reason I loved you. You're the most amazing girlfriend ever."

"And don't you forget it." Annabeth said, curling up against her boyfriend and resting her head on his shoulder. The two descended into silence for a while before Percy finally spoke.

"Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Say we were to get married…hypothetically speaking, of course," he said.

"Of course."

"Would you be Annabeth Jackson?"

"Annabeth Chase-Jackson. Hyphenated, of course. Or maybe just Annabeth Chase."

Percy pouted. "I think Annabeth Jackson sounds a lot nicer."

"We are not having this conversation now, Seaweed Brain. Ask me again later." She laughed.

Percy just grinned. He had every intention of asking her later, but for now, he was content waiting. After all, he didn't mind so much, especially when he frequented a certain coffee shop and got two beverages to go, with his initials and _A. Jackson_ scribbled across them. Annabeth smiled every time she saw her name written on the cup and, despite their conversation regarding the topic of her last name, made no move to correct it. Coffee, she decided, just might be new favorite beverage and that particular coffee shop just might have been her favorite place outside of camp. And if she became Annabeth Jackson prematurely…well, that wasn't so bad, she reasoned.

(Of course, she still wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to change her last name entirely, but she'd never tell Percy that).


End file.
